User blog:Thunderbirds101/A statement.
I've been away from the Wiki for a few days now thanks to the beginning of college. In my absence, it appears that the Wiki is falling apart due to flame wars and ongoing arguments over - what, exactly? Fictional events in a fictional world? People's preferences over a television show? If this is the case, it's a very pathetic excuse for these arguments. We all have freedom of choice - as Wikia is based in the United States, the laws of the nation apply here. We have the freedom to like or dislike anything we choose, as long as they fall under legal grounds. One can like any television show or franchise one wishes, because of freedom. This is not North Korea, China, or any other nation that restricts the freedoms of its citizens. Anyone is free to like or dislike anything. However, people are also free to express their distaste for other's opinions, but this does not mean to actively suppress the choices of others. There is also a problem of possible abuse of power on the Wiki. Power can get into anyone's head, resulting in misue, or abuse. Let me tell you a story relating to this. Four years ago, I was part of a now-defunct PC gaming clan. I joined in February 2008 with support from all of the members. Over the months, I earned the trust of the clan and became an admin on the server for Battlefield 2142. I rose far within the ranks, until conflicts began. In August 2008, several members disbanded, voicing their dislike for the head owner's constant absence despite holding the highest power within the clan. Fighting broke out, but was put down soon enough. A month later, shit really hit the fan. One of the co-owners was falsely accused of abusing funds in the clan by the contanstly absent owner, resulting in an all-out rebellion and the formation of a new clan lead by the co-owner accused. For the first month, everything seemed to proceed fine. Unfortunately, a disaster began in early October. A admin known for abusing power falsely accused me of abusing power, and he even managed to get others, including some close friends, to believe in his lies. In protest, I disappeared off the grid for a while. I returned in mid-october, only to find out the admin had taken a very high ranking position. Enraged, I went on a vandalizing spree, destroying their forums by permanently deleting hundreds of topics, many of which included clan information needed for day-to-day activites. Naturally, they caught on and deleted my account. At the time, I felt satisfied. I had exacted my revenge and sent a strong warning to them that if they abused me, I would wreak havoc upon them. I learned later that my actions were both a great acheivement and a terrible mistake. It was a mistake because I abused power and lost the trust of everyone on that website, save for a very few contacts, including one high-ranking official. That trust took six months to regain, mostly by dissappering off the grid for most of that time and issuing a formal apology. It was a great achivement because my actions ignited a massive inferno of a flame war that saw the clan nearly collapse, but ultimately saw the ouster of three of the clan members that I greatly despised. One was a convincted criminal that served six months for assault/battery (he was actually quite a decent character before his prison term, after that he abused power a lot), another was an admin known for severe temperemental issues, and the last the admin that falsely accused me of abusing power well before my little rampage. However, this experience taught me a few critical things. Giving power to someone is a great risk - one never knows if he or she will use it for destructive means. The second thing I learned was that flame wars can tear communities apart, creating a verbal civil war that almost always results in a negative outcome. So please, let's avoid any more flame wars. From this point on, my tolerance level for petty arguments for fictional events in fictional worlds, or attacking others based on their personal preferences is ZERO. Thank you. - TB Category:Blog posts